TheHouthis have claimed an “accurate and direct” hit on a tanker, dubbed Pollux, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing statements by the Houthis and US officials. US Central Command (Centcom) also confirmed that the Iranian-backed group fired four missiles towards the Red Sea on Friday, with at least three directed towards the Pollux, but added that no injuries were reported, the newswire also said.

Seafarers can refuse to partake in sailings through the Red Sea in a new industry agreement,Reuters reported on Friday, citing statements from a labor union and industry groups. Seafarers had previously signed agreements granting them double pay when transiting through high-risk zones, with December seeing the classification extended to the southern Red Sea, via a negotiations platform for seafarers and shipping lines dubbed the International Bargaining Forum (IBF), the newswire said. The latest IBF-mediated agreement sees seafarers granted the right to ask for repatriation at their employer’s cost if they do not wish to transit the Red Sea, provided that they abide by a two-week notice period, the newswire said citing the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the Joint Negotiating Group. Repatriated seafarers will also receive compensation equivalent to two months basic wages, the ITF said

IN SECURITY NEWS- The US carried out a cyberattack targeting an Iranian vessel in the Red Sea that was collecting information on cargo vessels, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing statements from three US officials. The cyberattack occurred a week ago and came in response to a drone attack last month by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia that killed three US servicemen in Jordan and injured dozens more, the newswire said.

US forces seized an Iranian shipment of advanced weapons that was on its way to the Houthis, aboard a vessel in the Arabian Sea on 28 January, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a US Central Command (Centcom) statement. The shipment included some 200 packages, containing ballistic missile parts, explosives, parts for submersible drones, communication equipment, and other military-grade hardware, Centcom said.

Iran vows retaliation if its vessels face seizure, Reuters reported citing Tuesday media statements by the legal adviser to Iran's President Mohammad Dehghan. “If an Iranian ship is seized, we will reciprocate and the legal way is not closed in this regard,” Dehghan said.

Which seized oil? Iran’s warnings come in response to a US Department of Justice (DOJ) decision to seize some 500k barrels of sanctioned Iranian fuel aboard a tanker, according to a DOJ statement, with the DOJ claiming that the action looks to clamp down on funding for Iran Revolutionary Guards. Both countries have been engaged in a months-long tit-for-tat tanker war that has also seen Iran seize tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.

ON THE DELIVERY FRONT- Humanitarian groups looking to distribute aid in war-torn Sudan are facing significant hurdles due to Red Sea disruptions, with reroutes to shipments incurring delays and straining their limited budgets, the Guardian reported on Friday. “Shipments that took one or two weeks, maximum, now take months to reach us,” Sudan country director for the International Rescue Committee Eatizaz Yousif said. The disruptions have also made the group’s operations very expensive, Yousif also said. Some shipments are being disembarked in the UAE and shipped via KSA’s Jeddah Port, or flown to Egypt or Kenya before being forwarded to Sudan, but these alternative routes are slower, more expensive, and more complicated bureaucratically than direct shipments to Port Sudan, the Guardian cites the local head of supply chain management for Save the Children Omer Sharfy as saying. “The Houthi issue has completely choked the market,” Sharfy said, adding that medicines have become difficult to source.

European retailer body Eurocommerce is urging EU-member states to do more to address Red Sea disruptions,Reuters reported on Friday, citing a letter the group sent to Belgium’s foreign minister. The group, which includes major European retailers such as Carrefour, M&S, Tesco, and H&M, is warning that disruptions have already had “massive impacts” on firms and that continued reroutes will see businesses and consumers suffering higher prices.

ICYMI:Trade associations from across the globe last week called on governments to assume a more proactive role to safeguard international commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Jeddah Chamber’s logistics council has set out proposals to limit knock-on effects from Red Sea disruptions on maritime shipping, the council’s head Rayan Qutb told Al Eqtisidiya on Saturday. The proposals include a collaboration with Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) to facilitate the transport of cargo via land between Dammam and Riyadh to (and from) Rabigh and Jeddah, the establishment of a freezone in Jeddah, regulatory changes to streamline customs and examination procedures, setting up dry ports along the Kingdom’s borders with the UAE and Oman, and bilateral trade agreements with countries on the Red Sea’s African coast.

MARKET REAX- Red Sea disruptions are seeing a boom in Singapore’s bunkering market, with volumes increasing 12% y-o-y to 4.9 mn tons in January,Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing data from Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority. The sharp increase is the second in as many months, with December seeing 5.1 mn tons of fuel sold to ships, the highest in almost thirty years of records. Longer routes, as well as boosted sailing speeds to cut back on delays, are driving demand at the world’s largest bunkering hub, the outlet said. “Demand in Singapore has increased as it’s almost the last stop before heading to the Indian Ocean,” a bunkering executive told Bloomberg. Other bunkering stations at the UAE’s Fujairah and Sri Lanka are also situated along reroutes, the executive said.

AND Egypt has lost some USD 508 mn in Suez Canal revenues due to ongoing Red Sea disruptions,Alsharq said on X on Wednesday, citing Bloomberg Intelligence estimates. Losses will likely continue as disruptions persist, but it is likely that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will intervene to soften some of the blows Egypt’s economy has taken on the back of regional shakeups.

ICYMI: Suez Canal receipts fell 47% y-o-y to USD 428 mn in January as the number of ships passing through the waterway dropped almost 37% to 1.4k in the month due to reroutes on the back of Houthi-led attacks against shipping entering and exiting the Red Sea.

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